Budget chief says 2019 is a catchup year

Council has yet to go crunch the numbers, but the city’s preliminary 2019 operating budget includes a levy increase of 7.93 percent.

That’s more than 6.6 million dollars.

A staff report says that assumes all service level changes are accepted.

It also includes an assumed five percent reduction in Ontario Municipal Partnership Funding — which is being reviewed at the provincial level.

Budget chief Tanya Vrebosch says don’t expect a big reduction from the 7.93 as it’s a catch up year.

“We’re going to be looking line by line to find savings but I don’t think we’ll get below 6 % unless you see some serious service cuts, Vrebosch says.

Vrebosch says council is going to have to make some difficult decisions to reduce that 7.93 % figure.

“It’s a hard message to send to people. The reality is all the good years are behind us and it’s important to catch up so can have reasonable numbers in the future,” she says.

Various departments will discuss their operating budgets before special committee meetings are held in mid-February.